GILAS Pilipinas ended a string of recent defeats, scoring an emphatic win against Saudi Arabia that it hopes could stoke its preparations for the biggest prize next year.
With Fil-Am NBA standout Jordan Clarkson showing the way, the Filipino cagers dismantled the Saudi Arabians 84-46 in Group E action of the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers before a wild and roaring crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
In front of 19,829 fans that included no less than President Marcos, Clarkson dazzled in his maiden game for Gilas at home with a game-high 23 points on five three-pointers, to go with five rebounds and six assists.
Seven-foot-3 big man Kai Sotto also chipped in 16 markers and 13 boards, while Dwight Ramos, Japeth Aguilar, and Kiefer Ravena also combined for 25 points as the nationals redeemed themselves from a painful 81-85 loss to Lebanon four days ago in Beirut.
Gilas also improved to 3-3 heading into the fifth window of the qualifiers in November.
Saudi Arabia, coming off a 65-80 setback at the hands of powerhouse New Zealand also last Friday, slipped to 1-4.
The effort exerted by his charges — especially limiting their turnovers to just 15 from 21 in the Lebanon game pleased Gilas coach Chot Reyes no end.
“What we wanted to focus on before the game was to just get better, to be better than our previous game against Lebanon and that meant a better effort,” Reyes said.
“Specifically (we had) to cut down our turnovers from the 21 we had against Lebanon to something less tonight. So, I thought we achieved it and as long as we got shots, we’re not gonna make every shot but as long as we get shots we like our chances,” he added.
Gilas fell 11-14 early on but battled back behind Clarkson and took a 37-28 lead at the half it widened to 61-36 heading into the final stanza.
The Philippine five was hardly threatened from there and stretched the difference to as much as 84-44 on a Calvin Oftana floater, only 1:10 left.
Mathana Almarwani, Khalid M Abdel Gabar, and Musab Tariq M Kadi paced Saudi Arabia with nine points each.
